Cattle-guard.



gnu. 709,105. Patented sept. l0, |902.

M. L.' M ILIIEH. CATTLE GUARD. (Application, flied June 2s, 1901.)

l@ w F 00 ugual.)

UNITED SIAIES ATENT FFIcE.

MARTIN L. MILLER, or SEALY, TEXAS, AsSIeNoR or ONE-THIRD To w. I. HILL,oF SEALY, TEXAS.

CATTLE-eUARD.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,105, datedSeptember 16, 1902.

Application tiled .Tune 28,1901. Serial No. 66,449. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it nto/y concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN L. MILLER, of Sealy, Austin county, Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cat- 5 tle-Guards,of which the followingis a speciication.

The present invention relates to cattleguards for railways; and theobject thereof is to provide an article of this character which willform an impassible barrier to cattle attempting to stray along thetrack, but will be out of the way ot' passing trains.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention isclearly illustrated, and the construction and operation thereof is fullydescribedV in the following specification. It will of course be under-`stood that this construction is open` to such changes ormodications asthe scope of the appended claimswill permit.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cattle-guardconstructed in accord-` ance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view through the same. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectiontaken on the line a: a: of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4c is a bottom plan view ofthe mechanism connecting the two intermediate elements. Fig. 5 is adetail view showing the construction of the bearings and stops for theouter platforms.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

In carrying out the invention an open space is provided beneath therailway-track, and this space is bridged by a suitable frame comprisingsills l and intermediate supportingbeams 11, upon which the rails 12 arefastened. In this frame is mounted the guard.

In the space between the tracks is located a pair of normally horizontalmembers 13, preferably in the form of grids or gratings, said membershaving their inner ends spaced a slight distance apart and journaledupon 45 the beams 11 by means of projecting pintles 14,

that engage in suitable boxes 15, located upon said beams. The spacebetween the adjacent ends of these members is closed by a plate 16, thatis secured at its ends tothe beams ll beo tween the journal-boxes 15.Each member is provided contiguous to its pivoted end with a `long and ashort arm 17 and 18, the lower ends of said arms being bifurcated, asshown at 19. nected in the bifurcated end of the short arm of `onemember and is pivotally and slidably `mounted at its opposite end in thelong arm ofthe other member. This latter connection is accomplished byproviding a slot 21 in the link, through which the pivot-pin 22 of thelong arm passes. By this arrangement, al-` though the two members arecapable of an `upward-anddownward movement, they are normally disposedin horizontal relation and counterbalance each other. When an animalsteps upon one of themembers, it will be depressed, and the long armacting through the link connection upon the short arm of the othermember will elevate said member to a degree greater than thecorresponding depression of said first member, and the elevated memberwill form a barrier against the passage of the animal. The long arm ofsaid elevated member will not interfere with this movement, as its lowerend has a slidable Vengagement with the other link. Should an animalattempt to pass in` an opposite direction, the member above described asthe .barrier will constitute the operating member, and the formeroperating member will in this instance form the barrier and be elevated.The comparatively great movement of the barrier member is accomplishedby the arrangement of the several pivots, the distance between the pivotconnection of the link with the operating member and the pivot-axisthereof being greater than the `distancebetween the pivot connection ofthe link withthe barrier member and the pivotaxis of said barriermember. t By this means it will be seen that an exceedingly simplestructure is provided which under normal conditions is completely outot' the way of trains passing upon the tracks, but will form animpassible barrier to animals attempting to stray along said track ineither direction. Under certain conditions, however, it may only beneedful to prevent the passage of cattle in one direction, in,`whichcase one of the links and its connections may be entirely dispensedwith, and a structure With this obvious omission will of course fall Acurved link 20 is pivotally con-v IOO within the scope of the claims.The spaces on the outside of the rail are covered by grated platforms23, formed of spaced parallel bars 24, held a suitable distance apart byspacing-blocks 25. These plat-forms are provided with a plurality offulcrum-shafts 26, that project beyond the side edges of said platformand are seated in bearings 27, secured to the outer edges of thesupportingbeams 11 and the sills l0. These bearings are preferably inthe form of plates secured to the upper faces of said beams and sillsand have depressed portions that are located in suitable sockets in thebeams. The ends of the plates constituting the outer bearings areupturned and provided with terminal stop-hooks 28, which are engaged bythe projecting ends of the shafts when said shafts are elevated throughthe corresponding depression of the opposite ends of the platforms.

By this arrangement it will be seen that no matter on which end ananimal may step the opposite ends will be elevated; but the tiltingmovement of the platform will be limited by the projectingend of theelevated shaft coming into contact with the stop-hook.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pivoted upwardly-movablebarrier member, of a pivoted downwardly-movable operating mem ber, adepending arm carried by the operating member, a depending arm carriedby the barrier member, and a single link pivotally connecting the armsof the members and movable therewith.

2. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pivoted upwardly-movablebarrier member, of a pivoted downwardly-movable operating member, adepending arm carried bythe operating member, and a link having apivotal connection with the arm, said link being pivotally connected tothe barrier member.

3. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pivoted upwardly-movablebarrier member, of a pivoted downwardly-movable operating member,depending arms carried by the two members, the arm of the operatingmember being longer than that of the barrier member and a link secureddirectly to said arms to simultaneously move them upon the depression ofthe operating member.

4. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pair of independent membersmovable in a downward and upward direction, of separate links pivotallyconnected with the members, each link having aslidable engagement withone member.

5. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pair of independent membersmovable in a downward and upward direction, each of said members havinga depending arm, of links each being connected with one of the membersand having a pivotal connection with the arm of the other member.

6. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pair of independent membersmovable in a downward and upward direction, each of said members havinga depending arm, and links ,each being connected with one of themembers, and having a pivotal and slidable connection with the arm ofthe other member.

7. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pair of independent membersmovable in a downward and upward direction, each of said members havingdepending long and short arms and a link pivotally connected at one endwith the short arm of one member, the other end having a pivotal andslidable connection With the long arm of the other member.

8. In a cattle-guard, a tilting platform having a plurality of fulcrums,and means arranged to engage the fulcrums to limit the tilting movementof the platform.

9. In a cattle-guard, a tilting platform having a plurality offulcrum-shafts projecting beyond the side edges thereof, a plurality ofbearings for the projecting ends of the ful- Crum-shafts and stop-hookslocated at the ends and above the bearings, said fulcrumshaft endsengaging the hooks to limit the tilting movement of the platform.

MARTIN L. MILLER.

Witnesses:

J J. WALKER, LoN DAvIs.

IOO

